Questions tagged [passive-voice]
The passive voice is a grammatical construction (a "voice") in which the subject of a sentence or clause denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the agent).
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What is the meaning of "We were much exercised in our minds"? [closed]
Can it sometimes mean "highly motivated" or "inspired"?
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Is the phrase "is submitted <something>" without a preposition correct?
I am following a Coursera course on something related to Large Language Models (LLMs). In the Module quiz, one question reads:
An LLM is submitted a prompt that asks whether[...]
This strikes me as ...
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Disagreement of subjects in a sentence containing a participle clause
I often see the following type of sentences where the main clause in the passive voice is followed by a participle clause with a different subject. I wonder if these sentences are grammatically ...
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Passive forms of 'watch' and 'notice' can't be followed by to-infinitives or -ing participles
According to Swan (2017) Practical English Usage (BrE),
Watch, like look but not necessarily see, is used to talk about concentrating, paying attention, trying to see what is there.
Although both ...
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'Let something in' cannot be used in the passive
According to the Oxford Dict of Phrasal Verbs,
Verbs with the pattern verb + prep are not usually used in the passive; exceptions are rare, such as rely₂ on somebody/something 'count/depend on'.
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Passive voice construction with verbs of perception
I wasn't able to find a clear consensus or authoritative answer on this topic online, so I wanted to post this question here.
When converting an active voice sentence with a verb of perception into ...
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Is the active voice in the participle “having .. doing it..” incorrect , and instead, a passive construction would be the correct way?
Back last September, a friend asked me if I wasn’t perhaps starting to get used to manual evacuation, having by then been doing it every day for about three months
Since the subject is the receiver ...
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'Want'/'like': passive + to-infinitive
According to Swan's Practical (BrE),
Verbs of wanting, liking and similar ideas cannot usually be used in passive structures with following to-infinitives:
❌Maria is wanted to be the new boss
Why is ...
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It is (to be) hoped
According to Swan's Practical,
A few verbs followed by infinitives (e.g., decide, agree, but not hope) can also be used in passive structures with anticipatory it.
Hopefully: a sentence adverb with ...
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Passive vs Active voice with some physical context
I had a small disagreement with my Latin teacher (nothing to do with Latin but just some context) when going over passive vs active voice, specifically,
The dog was hit by the car.
Is passive, thus ...
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intransitive verb vs get -ed passive
The sentence:
Watching TV relaxes me. (relax as a transitive verb).
is more or less similar (but not necessarily identical) to:
I relax by watching TV. (relax as an intransitive verb).
If we apply ...
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Simultaneous subject and direct object of a passive voice sentence [duplicate]
In the sentence
The book was read by John.
"book" is the subject of the verb. But why can't "book" simultaneously be the direct object since it is what received the action of ...
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Why is BE used in: "there was no avoiding having them BE read and dissected"?
I have read a sentence in a book but unfortunately I cannot understand the structure of the last part.
"People were waiting to see his scripts – there was no avoiding having
them be read and ...
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Can V3 form of any verb be used as an adjective to express a current state? If not, what kinds of verbs can be used that way?
See these examples.
1-The boy breaks his toys every day (active form).
2-his toys are broken every day by him (passive form).
But we also use "broken" as an adjective to express the current ...
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Why can't the verb 'Need" accept passive Gerunds [duplicate]
Why can't the verb 'need" accept passive Gerunds?
My car needs washing - correct
My car needs to be washed - correct
My car needs being washed - incorrect
Why can't a passive Gerund fit in ...
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